A weary traveler arriving in an unfamiliar town says to a local resident “I am looking for a place to rest.” And the local responds “Well, let me know when you find it!”
In our faster-than-the-speed-of-light world, we are all seeking rest. Even in Jesus’ day, He recognized the need for stress release, assuring His fatigued followers: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mat. 11:28). Now the truth is no one can “give” you rest any more than someone can “give” you laughter. But just as someone can “cause” you to laugh, so Jesus can “cause” you to rest.
While Jesus will cause you to rest, He also explains that you will need to “find” it—implying rest is something that can be “lost.” How? Through the stress of daily life. Growing up in a world of chaos and unpredictability, we have learned creative ways of managing stress—eventually finding they don’t work. Thus Jesus says “come and learn from me… Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mat. 11:29). In order to learn Jesus' way of finding rest, no doubt there will be a need for some unlearning.
I encourage you today to spend some time asking the Lord to help you identify those things you will have to ‘unlearn’ before you can learn how to find it in Him!
Greg,
ReplyDeleteIt has been my experience that getting rest is indeed a simple thing: there are only minor adjustments to make the vast majority of the time. But the end result is almost as if we made a huge movement one way or the other.
To illustrate, when shooting either a gun or a bow and arrow at a target the key to hitting the mark is understand the effect of that gravity has upon the arrow or the bullet. This effect is called "trajectory." If you shoot straight at a target that is some distance away you will certainly fail to hit the target because gravity will cause it to fall below where your aim is. A minor adjustment is all that is needed for you to increase your accuracy. But from, say, a couple of hundred yards, that minor adjustment of millimeters in your aim can turn into yards by the time your arrow or bullet reaches its intended destination.
With rest, changing one thing, i.e., switching to decaf tea or coffee after 3 pm, may be the key to succeeding.
Stan